Nakheel awards Palm beach profiling contract

Dubai developer Nakheel has awarded a AED105m ($28.6m) contract to carry out beach profiling work on Palm Jumeirah island.

The contract has been awarded to Dutch company Van Oord International and work will start in the third week of September and be completed in seven months time, Nakheel said in a statement published by state news agency WAM.

According to the indebted state-owned developer, Van Oord International will be "using prime quality sand on the eastern and the western edges of the Palm Jumeirah's trunk... as well as handle the re-profiling of the water edge along (some of) the Palm Jumeirah island's fronds."

Back in 2009, Nakheel strenuously denied reports in the international media that its landmark Palm Jumeirah island was sinking into the Arabian Gulf.

European ground survey firm Fugro NPA Ltd had said that the island was sinking by an average of 5 millimetres a year, a claim rejected by Nakheel as “wholly inaccurate”.

Last month, Nakheel said it had sold a plot of land on Palm Jumeirah for AED400m ($109m).

The 305,704 sq ft plot was bought by a local investor the company didn’t identify.

Nakheel said the sale showed there were "clear signs of renewed investor confidence in Dubai real estate and in particular for unique products such as those offered on Palm Jumeirah".

In July, Nakheel said its first-half profits jumped 36 percent on Monday, buoyed by property handovers on several projects.

Nakheel, whose extravagant developments at the height of Dubai's property boom contributed to the emirate's debt woes, has been slowly recovering from the crippling real estate collapse.

The developer said net profit was AED767m ($208.82m) in the first six months of the year, up from AED562m in the year-ago period.

The island is not sinking, I have first hand knowledge. The orignal source of the claim was from a distgruntled inexperienced employee of the survey company, using out dated data.
All buildings and structures around the world subside over there lifetime. This is taken into account during the design stage.
Profiling of the beaches has nothing to do with the island sinking, it is due to the wave action of the sea on the beaches. It is normally carried out every year depending on the location and affects caused. This is maintenance not rectification of a fault. Its no different to raking a sand pit after it has been used by kids, but just on a larger scale.
Like most developers over the last 3-4 years, they have had no money to carry out a lot of the maintenance that is required, with the main reason due to residents not paying there MC service charges.
Yes, it does come out of the service charge for Master Community, like every developmemnt in UAE and the world.

Posted by: John
Sunday, 16 September 2012 3:31 PM[UAE]
- UK

Yes Bob, your cheque is in the post from Nakheel. They need this kind of support.

If the Palm Jumeirah requires this kind of attention, what is the true situation on 'The World' islands as I recall Nakheel vehemently denied that the islands were either subsiding or losing substance in terms of erosion of shape and therefore area.

As many of the firm's outstanding court cases involve islands which form part of 'The World', it would perhaps be in order for the Dubai Word Tribunal to commission an independent experts opinion, given that Nakheel has needed to resort to maintenance and repair work of this type and scale on another marine development that is relatively close to the coast by comparison.

It will be interesting to learn the details of this contract, as it is clear Van Oord would not have taken it on if it hadn't received a huge advance payment, knowing Nakheel's reputation. That the repairs are needed so soon and are so extensive further suggests the developer was not being frank when it was discovered the islands were sinking.